Folding bed



(N o Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 1. RA. OHLIGER.

FOLDING BED.

No. 587,853. Patented Aug. 10,1897.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2. E. A. OHLIGER. FOLDING BED.

No. 587,853. Patented Aug. 10,1897.

1 w w we;

3 SheetsSheet 3. E. A. OHLIGER.

FOLDING BED.

(No Model.)

Patented Aug. 10, 1897.

UNITED STATES ERNEST A. OHLIGER, OF HARTFORD,

PATENT OFFI E- CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR or THREE- FOU'RTHS TO SAMUEL J.HUSSEY AND FRANK H. WHIPPLE, OF SAME PLACE, AND THOMAS M. SMITH,OF-WVEST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

FOL-DING ee'o.

' srncrnrcarron forming er tor Letters went No. 587,853, dated August10, 1897.

Application filed February 11, l89'i7. Serial No, 622,946. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern: 7 Be it known that I, ERNEST A. OHLIGER,subject of the Emperor of Germany, residing at Hartford, in the countyof Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented-certain new anduseful Improvements in Folding ,Beds, of which the following is aspecification.

The invention relates to a piece of furniture which has a bed hingedupon a pivot, so

that it can be turned up out of the way when not desired for use, andwhich has a part that forms a support for the bed when down and affordsa sofa, lounge, or settee for use when the bed is up.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive, andlight-weight balancing mechanism which is so arranged as'to permit thebed to be folded 0r unfolded with but little effort and yet prevent thebed from moving from either position accidentally,

the mechanism being so connected with the parts that the seat will beunfolded by the turning down of the bed and form a support for the bedand will be folded up by the turning up of the bed and arranged for use.

The embodiment of the invention which is shown has a case, a bed hingedupon a pivot supported by the case, springs connecting the case and thebed and brought into tension by the movement of the bed for balancingits weight, a seat hinged to the case, and mech anisms connecting thebed with the'seat in such manner that the-oscillation of the bed swingsthe seat on its hinge, as more particularly hereinafter described, andpointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows a front elevationof "an embodiment of the invention with the bed folded 0 out of the Wayand the seat arranged for use.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a section on largerscale, taken through the lower portion, showing the mechanisms in thepositions occupied when the bed is 5 raised andthe seat is in positionfor use.

Fig. 4: is a transverse section taken on the plane indicated by thebroken line of Fig. 3, looking toward a small portion of the front. Fig.5 is a similar sectional view on the same plane, looking toward theback. Fig. 6 is a detail view showing the pivot-shaft and thebalancing-springs which it supports. Fig. 7 is a section of thepivot-shaft, looking toward the bearings on one side. Fig. 8 is asectional view at one end of the pivot-shaft,

showing the arrangement of its bearings. In the views, 1 indicates thecase. This case may be built of any suitable material in any approveddesign, but it is preferably put together in such manner that it can bereadily taken apart for convenience in transporting. Mounted within thecase is a bed 2.

shape, and its bottom is usually finished with panels of ,wood or glassand otherwise ornamented, so as to present a pleasing appearance whenthe bed is folded up. The bed is supported by a pivot-shaft 3, thatextends from side to side and is held at .its ends by plates 4, securedto the side walls of the case. The supporting-plates 4 preferably haveslots 5, and the ends of the pivot-shaft are flattened and fitted intothe slots in the plates, so that the pivot-shaft is held againstrotation. Secured to the sides of the bed are perforated plates 6, andthe pivot-shaft passes through these plates, so that when the bed isoscillated the Weight is borne by these bearingplates.

--Attached to the wall of the bed-frame near the head adjacent to thepivot is a plate 7, with a perforation through which the pivot passes,and mounted upon the pivot adjacent tothis plate are a pair of springs8. These springs have their outer ends connected With the shaft andtheir inner ends secured to the plate, and when the plate and the bed towhich it is attached are rotated, as in unfolding the bed, the springsare coiled up in such manner as to offer resistance to this movement,and this resistance of course prevents the too rapid movement of the bedin unfolding and also aids in'rnoving the bedwhen it is being folded up.To further aid in balancone end connected with a plate 10, secured tothe bed, and has its other end attached to a cord 11, that passes arounda pulley 12 and is attached to one end of another spiral spring 13, thathas its other end secured to the case The frame of the bed may be ofordinary ing the weight of the bed, a spiral spring!) has 5 by anysuitable means at any convenient locality. Y The bed may be providedwith any suitable form of mattress-frame and mattress. The wire mattresslat shown is connected across one end with a bar 15, which bar is heldin place bybolts 16, that pass through the bar and through the end wallof the bed-frame or a bracket attached thereto, as shown in Fig. 3, insuch manner that by the rotation of the bolts the bar may be moved andthe mattress tightened or loosened as necessary. The case preferablydoes not extend to the outer end of the bed, and to give the sides of ofthe case.

the bed-frame a paneled appearance and to conceal the bedding along thelow sides when the bed is raised "false edge boards 17 are provided.These boards are loosely held at their ends by cleats or moldings, sothat they can be'slid toward the edges of the bed-frame to the positionshown in Fig. 2 when the bed is not in use and is standing raised and sothey can be slid .in from the edges to the position illustrated indotted lines in Fig. 2,-thuslowering the sides of the bed when, it is tobe used, the real sides of the bed-frame being of the customary shape ofsuch parts--that is, being lower along the middle of their length thanat their ends.

The bottom 18 of the seat-frame is hinged at its front edge to the topof the front wall This seat-frame is usually providedwith asuitably-upholstered cushion 19, supported upon seat-springs 20, and hasposts 21 and 22, connected by bars 23, these latterparts forming theside arms of the seat when the bed is folded up, as shown in the views.

A shaft2-l is held in bearings formed in brackets 25, secured to thefront wall of the case, and mounted upon this shaft is a lever 26. Thislever is preferably formed of a flat bar of steel having someresiliency, and one of its ends is movably connected with a rod 27,secured to the bottom of the seat-frame, while the other end of thelever, isloosely connected with the end of a bar 28. The rod 27 ispreferably round, and the end of the lever 26 is bent and provided witha central perfo-' ration which fits the rod. A small pivot or hinge-pin29 connects one end of the bar 28 with the forked end of the lever 26,and the other end of this bar is by a pin 30 connected with the plate10, attached to the bottom of the bed-frame. Secured to the hinge-pin 29is an, arm 32, and to this arm is attached one end of a spring 33, theother end of which is secured to the case or a part attached to thecase. The pin 30 passes through slots 34, formed in .parts of the plate10, and to the ends of this pin are connected the ends of springs 35,that are connected with parts of the plate 10. This arrangement forms anelastic or yielding connection between the end of the bar 28 and the endof the bed-frame.

When the bed is turned from its upright position and oscillates on thepivot-shaft, the

movement of the end below the pivot causes end of the lever lifts thefree edge of the seat I from the case and causes it to turn on its hingeuntil the ends of the posts 22' move over sufficiently to rest upon thefloor and form the front legs of the structure that supports the bedwhen down. When the parts reach this position, the top edge of thefrontportion of the'case and the bottom edge of the seat-frame,

which is now uppermost, form practically a. plane surface upon which theturned-down bed rests.

is turning the seat on its hinges. The bfl-PZB is connected with the bedat such a, distance Y from the pivot and is connected with the short armof the lever 26 so near its fulcrum, and the long arm of the lever isconnected with 1, the seat-frame at such a distance from itsful crum,that the seat moves faster in opening than the bed in turning down, andthis-causes .the seat to move out of the way of the bed.

when being opened. As the lever 26 is somef what flexible, the movementof the'seat is easy and all slight irregularities of construction or'unevennesses of surfaces upon which thebed stands are compensated for.

When the bed is being opened, the tension 20f the springs upon thepivot-shaft and the :springs connected between the end of the When thebed is. turned up from p a horizontal position, the end of the bed-framex pushes the bar 28 in such manner that it 'oscillates the lever 26 onits fulcrum, S0 thattbe long arm pulls the free end of the seat-frame iover and causes it to close up. The endof TI the bar moves along theslots 34 in the plate Q 10, and the end of the long arm of the lever 26:

l moves freely along the rod 27 when the lever we f frame and the casebalance its weight, so that I i it moves slowly and evenly, and thesesame, "springs aid in lifting when the. bedis. being I folded up. As theseat is connected withthe. ibed, these springs also counterbalance 10fthe work necessary in moving the i The spring 33 prevents the seatfrommoving :violently in opening and aids in closingthe seat, while thesprings 35 tend to keep; end of the bar 28 as far as possible fromthe 1axis of the pivot of the bed. To the bottom of the bed a cushion 36 isusually secured by any suitable upholstering to providea eom- .fortableback for the seat when the bed-is Iraised, and this cushion lies withinthe-case i when the bed is down. A bed provided with these springconnections arranged in this -manner can be turned up or down with butlittle effort, and the turning of the bed autoweight, simple,inexpensive, and can be readily assembled or can be easily replaced incase of wear. v I claim as my invention? 1. In a bed of thewithin-described class, in combination, a case, a bed-frame mounted upona pivot supported by the case, mechanism for counterbalancing the weightof the bed-frame, a seat-frame hinged at one edge to the case, andlevers connected with the bedframe and the free edge of the seat-framewhereby the oscillation of the bed-frame on its pivot reverses theseat-frame on its hinges, the seat-frame when turned down forming asupport for the bed-frame and when turned up forming a seat,substantially as specified.

2. In a bed of the within-described class, in combination, a case, abed-frame mounted upon a pivot supported bythe case, yieldingconnections between the bed-frame and the case for counterbalancing theweight of the bed-frame, a seat-frame hinged at one edge to the case,and yielding connections between the bed-frame and the seat-framewhereby the oscillation of the bed-frame on its pivot reverses theseat-frame on its hinges, the seatframe when turned down formingasupport for the bed-frame and when turned up forming a seat,substantially as specified.

3. In a bed of the within-described class, in combination, a case, abed-frame mounted upon a pivot supported bythe case, spiral springsmounted upon the pivot and connected with the bed-frame and springsconnecting the bed-frame with the case, for counterbalancing its weight,a seat-frame hinged at one edge to the case, an oscillating leverconnected with the free edge of the seatframe, and a link connecting thebed-frame with the lever whereby the oscillation of the bed-frame on itspivot reverses the seat-frame on its hinges, the seat-frame when turneddown forming a support for the bed-frame and when turned up forming aseat, substantially as specified.

4. In a bed of the within-described class, in combination, a case, abed-frame mounted upon a pivot supported by the case, mechanism forcounterbalancing the weight of the bed-frame, a seat-frame hinged at oneedge to the case, a spring-lever pivotally supported by the case andloosely connected with the seat-frame; and a link connecting thebedframe with the lever, substantially as specified.

5. In a bed of the within-described class,

- in combination, a case, a bed-frame mounted upon a pivot supported bythe case, mechanism for counterbalancing the Weight of the bed-frame, aseat-frame hinged at one edge to the case, a lever pivotally supportedby the case with one end loosely connected with the free edge of theseat-frame, a link connecting the bed-frame with the end of the leverthat is not connected with the seatframe, and a spring connecting thecase with the lever that is connected with the seatarm of the lever, alink yieldingly'connected at one end with the bed-frame and looselyconnected at the opposite end with the other,

arm of the lever, and a spring connected with the lever adjacent to thepoint of attachment of the link, substantially as specified.

7. In a bed of the within-described class,

in combination, a case, a bed having side,

head and foot boards, mounted upon a pivot supported by the case,shield-boards with their ends loosely held connected with the sideboards of the bed and having a movement bodily edgewise toward and fromthe top edges of the side boards in order to widen or narrow the sidesof the bed, and mechanisms for counterbalancing the weight of the bed,substantially as specified.

ERNEST A. OHLIGER.

Witnesses:

H. R. WILLIAMS, E. J. HYDE.

